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At least two suspected armed robbers are killed in an explosion in a minibus in Nigeria's oil capital, Port Harcourt, police say.

Cameroon's 1990 World Cup star Roger Milla has been removed as honorary president of his country's football federation after criticising top officials in the organisation.

Patrick Mafisango, a member of Rwanda's squad for next month's 2014 World Cup qualifier against Algeria, dies in a car accident in Dar es Salaam.

A group of 17 civilians are sentenced to death, the day after carrying out an attack on a military base in the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland.

Teacher tells of fleeing ethnic attacks during Mali rebellion

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor tells the BBC he believes the net is closing around Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda.

2012-05-14 On Saturday 19th of May, Algeria Solidarity Campaign invites you to scrutinise the context of this month’s elections and how it relates to Algeria’s most recent history. The panellists will discuss the pouvoir’s resilience over the past twenty years, its relationship with leading western capitals and the degree of manoeuvre it has today amidst regional reshaping of polities. The results of the 10th of May elections will also be addressed in the same framework.

2012-05-13 To celebrate the African novel and its adaptability and resilience, Kwani Trust announces a one-off new literary prize for African writing. The Kwani? Manuscript Project calls for the submission of unpublished fiction manuscripts from African writers across the continent and in the Diaspora. The prize seeks fresh, original work that explores and challenges the possibilities of the novel.

2012-05-14 Egypt’s liberal leaning Free Egyptians Party declared its support for the calls and demands by women’s rights organizations and NGOs in the country, which have called for woman’s rights. The party also said it stands against 'the phenomenon of sexual harassment' and called for the passing of a law criminalizing the act. The party condemned in a statement on Sunday the 'shameful stance of the female parliament members of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), who stand against a woman’s right to defend herself and refuse to condemn the man who assaulted the woman and only blame the society and the woman, who is the victim.'

2012-05-14 The Talking Box is an initiative for girls in Nairobi’s Kibera slum that invites students to write down concerns that they are afraid to discuss with their teachers or parents. According to this article from Global Press Institute, educators say it’s reducing school dropouts and improving academic performances.

2012-05-14 Women’s rights in Morocco have come under the spotlight recently after a young woman was assaulted in a Rabat market by people she called 'Salafists', or ultra-conservative Islamists. She said she was accosted by the men because of the short dress she was wearing. Other witnesses were reported by the Magharebia news portal as saying the girl was attacked with stones and beaten after the assailants said the dress was 'too revealing'.

Press release: Housing rights protected as Court recognises customary law adoption of a woman facing eviction 2012-05-14 On 8 May 2012, the Johannesburg High Court declared that a girl taken in and treated as a daughter by a woman in Soweto could inherit as her customary law heir. Judge Coppin declared the daughter (who prefers to remain anonymous and will be referred to as ‘Ms K’) to be the descendant of a woman who died intestate in 2006. This was despite the fact that the woman never formally adopted Ms K and was not her birth mother. Lawyers for the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) successfully argued that Ms K had been adopted in terms of customary law and should be recognised as her mother’s descendant in terms of the Reform of Customary Law and Succession and Regulation of Related Matters Act 11 of 2009.

2012-05-10 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/1196394966/These simple exchanges between two citizens of Africa show their dreams, pain, hope and civic action to ensure that the continent becomes the promised land where everyone can live in peace and justice, solidarity and prosperity.

2012-05-10 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/advocacy_project/3636466162/NOTE DE L'ÉDITEUR: Les lettres qui suivent font partie d'un échange émouvant et d’une rare perspicacité entre deux femmes qui ont été, pendant des décennies, des leaders respectés de mouvements citoyens en Afrique de l'Ouest. Deux femmes connues pour leur sagesse, leur courage, leur créativité et leur engagement sans faille pour la justice, la paix et le bien-être de leurs pays respectifs, la Guinée-Bissau et le Mali. Cette semaine, Pambazuka est heureux de partager une partie de ces correspondances personnelles, échangées à la suite des coups d'Etat survenus d’abord au Mali en mars, puis en Guinée-Bissau en avril. Les lettres ont été traduites du français et sont signés avec des noms d’emprunt pour la sécurité de ces femmes, de leurs camarades et de leurs familles en ces moments difficiles qu’ils sont en train de vivre. (La version en anglais des lettres peuvent être lues à [url=http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82019]

2012-05-09 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/5755426400/To push genetically engineered crops into Africa, the promoters work hard to ensure lax biosafety laws, ignore the Africa Model Law on Biosafety and ensure lack of transparency while truncating participation.

2012-05-09 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/webwalker/2634801750/The proposed law results from consultations between the state and traditional leadership structures. It ignores the voices of millions of rural women disenfranchised by those structures.

2012-05-09 - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Africa_municipalities_by_language_2001.pngA solidarity for the vulnerable that cuts across the ethnic, regional and political divide is the final counter-balance against tribalism in South Africa.

2012-05-10 - https://plus.google.com/photos/115575226779461238364/albums/5380870422906324305?banner=pwaAre international criminal courts serving political agendas rather than upholding legal principles of justice? The recent ruling on the Charles Taylor case raises troubling questions.

2012-05-08 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tlupic/6092322951/Although the Malawian constitution is clear about succession in the event of the death or incapacitation of the president, a cabal close to the late President Mutharika wanted to install their own man in power instead of Vice President Joyce Banda.

2012-05-10 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/2553747664/The late President Mutharika was hailed at home and abroad. But after the 2009 landslide re-election victory, his quest to engineer the election of his brother to succeed him in 2014 and increased autocracy astounded many.